This invention relates to timers which control electric power being supplied to an electrical appliance, and specifically to timers used in conjunction with electric lamps.
Timers which may be coupled to lamps or other electric appliances have existed for many years. Typically, these timers are utilized to activate a lamp in the absence of a homeowner in order to give the appearance that the home is occupied. These devices may also be used by a homeowner who does not wish to enter a darkened home, and therefore the timer is set to turn on a lamp prior to the time the homeowner typically arrives.
These timers include a small housing, pair of male, electric prongs extending from the housing which are adapted to be received within a conventional electric wall socket, and a pair of female receptacles extending into the housing which are adapted to receive the male prongs of the lamp plug. However, because these timers are mounted directly to and suspended from the wall electric socket or receptacle their access is not always convenient. Homeowners oftentimes must move furniture or get on their hands and knees in order to reach behind and beneath the furniture to plug the timers into the wall receptacle, to plug the appliance into the timers, or to initiate the timers"" operation.
Another problem associated with these timers is that there mounting upon the wall makes them very pronounced and aesthetically undesirable. In addition to this purely aesthetic problem this fact creates a second problem as homeowners move items, such as furniture, in front of the timer so as to hide them from view. This movement of furniture to cover the timer however exacerbates the previous problem of accessing the timer.
Accordingly, it is seen that a need remains for a timer which is easily accessible but yet is aesthetically unobtrusive. It is to the provision of such therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.
In a preferred form of the invention a timer to be used with a lamp comprises a housing having a floor, a top wall sized and shaped to receive a lamp thereon, and side walls extending between the floor and the top wall. The housing is adapted to support a lamp positioned upon the top wall. The timer also includes an electric cord extending from the housing having a male plug configured to be received in a conventional electric receptacle, a female electric receptacle extending into the housing configured to receive the male plug of a lamp, and programmable control means for automatically energizing at preselected time intervals the female electric receptacle with an electric current passing through the electric cord.